Coast Guard medevacs woman from cruise ship off Virginia coast

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard medevaced a 49-year-old woman off a cruise ship approximately nine miles east of Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach, Monday.

A crewmember from the cruise ship Carnival Pride called watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads at approximately 6:40 a.m. requesting a medevac for a female passenger who was in need of assistance.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City in Elizabeth City, N.C., launched to assist, hoisted the woman and ship’s nurse and took them to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk.

“One of the Coast Guard’s primary missions is search and rescue,” said Geoffrey Pagels, a search and rescue specialist at the Coast Guard’s 5th District Command Center. “And we stand ready to perform that mission every day.”